Crowd Sourcing Design Ideas - Your chance to Tell BMW What YOU Want

by Tim Jones on September 26, 2012, 4:01 pm

BMW has teamed up with the automotive crowd sourcing experts at Local Motors to put enthusiasts in the design seat for the next generation of Mobility. By the year 2030 more then 3 in 5 will live in a city, what will their mobility needs be and what do you think BMW can do to meet those needs?

You have from now until the 16th of October to submit your idea with winners picked by vote. There are $15,000 in prizes available so if you want to finally have a say in what BMW builds and get paid to tell them this is your chance. Submit your idea to 'The Forge' on Local Motors and post it here for feedback from Bimmerfest members.

The Design Brief

In this challenge we are looking exclusively for class-leading features and functions for BMW and MINI-branded vehicles in the year 2025. Your designs should improve the driving and ownership experience of premium vehicles and allow users to evolve and thrive in the context of an urban environment. Just in case you are tempted, this is not a new vehicle design competition.

The BMW Group, the global automotive leader behind the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars brands, can be credited with inventing and implementing many features and functions that were considered game-changing firsts in the industry. BMW Group has spent decades designing and building ground-breaking vehicles that have revolutionized the automotive landscape.

This is your chance to work alongside BMW Group and continue this trend of revolutionary vehicle development. The potential for ideas is unlimited. Dream and share you vision of class-leading future features and functions. Reinvent not only the car, but also everything it can and should do in the future. Revolutionize the car as an urban tool and as an expression of urban living.

The Context – Megacities

Urban Environments in Flux:
Every year cities are becoming more densely populated, trending toward what are becoming known as megacities Such urban environments face quickly developing, previously unencountered challenges; intense congestion, limited parking, stifling pollution, safety, and security are some of the problems that will shape the future of urban mobility.

Lifestyles are Shifting:
The concept of vehicle ownership is changing and so are attitudes towards car sharing services. The lifestyle of urban inhabitants is also rapidly changing. Connectivity, efficiency, environmental concerns, and social consciousness are becoming key priorities for the urban driver. Active and mobile lives, filled with short distance travel, are becoming standard.

The Scope - Your Challenge

Participate:
Think about and anticipate user needs in the future that will be defined by impending lifestyle shifts in the urban environments.

Engage:
Conceive of and design premium vehicle features or functions that will address and solve these environmental and lifestyle changes.

Push the envelope:
Redefine the concept of urban mobility - how users will live and evolve in this future urban environment. How will your design change the future of urban mobility in 2025?

I recommend that firstly you go back and start making BMW's more oriented toward the driver and not so much on Al Gore and his green peace movements. Secondly, I recommend that BMW starts making cars that will once again still be on the road 20-30 years from now because I fear that the new bimmers are so jammed with technology that they simply will have a hard time reaching 100,000 miles again.

GroupBquattro commented: October 2, 2012, 5:21 pm

I'd say take the E30 M3 as a benchmark. Build a light (under 3000 lbs), fun to drive car with go-kart handling. No leather or electric seats, with manual crank windows. Leave out all unnecessary gadgets. I don't know how many enthusiasts care about hearing the engine noise thru the speakers or the car that shuts off at stoplights. On-off buttons for ABS, Traction and Stability Control

Bring back the E46 Chassis with modern engines. I'd adore that more than anything else.

Quacker commented: October 6, 2012, 10:26 am

You have probably heard this one before: "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail," but nowhere does this apply more than when BMW sits down to consider what people want when 'stuck in a traffic jam of the future.' The real answer (of course) is NOT to get stuck in a traffic jam! And the solution for the megacity of the future is not a car at all. Instead it's a Segway. BMW should seriously consider either buying Segway outright right now or spending the next 10 years quietly out-engineering it, because like it or not, that's how the city of the future is going to roll. It's the obvious choice on so many levels. Segway's only fault was timing. They were at least 20 years too early. But please, please BMW, don't forget the cup holders!

Best,
Q

cwsqbm commented: October 6, 2012, 10:48 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quacker

You have probably heard this one before: "if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail," but nowhere does this apply more than when BMW sits down to consider what people want when 'stuck in a traffic jam of the future.' The real answer (of course) is NOT to get stuck in a traffic jam! And the solution for the megacity of the future is not a car at all. Instead it's a Segway. BMW should seriously consider either buying Segway outright right now or spending the next 10 years quietly out-engineering it, because like it or not, that's how the city of the future is going to roll. It's the obvious choice on so many levels. Segway's only fault was timing. They were at least 20 years too early. But please, please BMW, don't forget the cup holders!

Best,
Q

Segways are only alternatives for those who could already walk to work. They don't go fast, have minimal luggage capability and you're out in the elements - the bus is a better alternative. I'd rather have a bicycle with an electric motor (which exist and are cheaper, much faster, and haul more stuff).

Quacker commented: October 6, 2012, 11:04 am

Thanks for laying out BMW's engineering challenges for revising the Segway to be a more practical car replacement